Reedy, who operates Reedy's Woodworks on Route 6, Scituate, said the pair had been at work for a week.

He freely granted credit to his partner: "Mr. Kim is the sculptor on this. It's his imagination."

Reedy did all of the talking for Kim, a native of South Korea with a ready smile and steady hand, who speaks in halting English.

It would take another week to complete the work, said Reedy. It stands gaily in a flower-bedecked front yard at 210 Eighth St., just in from Hope Street, where Dr. Pat Feinstein, a psychiatrist, specializes in treating children.

"Doctor Feinstein wanted something showing children well and happy, at play," said Reedy. "She came into my studio one day, and we talked about it. Mr. Kim was in Korea at the time, so I held off until he got back. We tossed around some ideas. I specialize in custom furniture and carved signs, but when a job like this comes around, I just close the shop up for two weeks."

Dr. Feinstein, a native of Thailand, who is the wife of Cranston philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein, said she wanted "a theme of children and love." She said she shopped around before locating Reedy and Kim. "I was lucky to find them," she said.

She said a statuary theme park she saw during a visit to Norway inspired her: "I had this big stump and wanted to do something with it."

The oak had stood there 57 years when it was topped two years ago -- Reedy said he counted the rings.

The two men "roughed it out with a chain saw" to get the basic motif of four children - three with linked arms and the fourth kneeling alongside. "From here on out, it needs a lot more detail," Reedy said, busying himself once again with sandpaper as Kim continued to contour the eyes.

Such a work costs between $500 and $1,500, said Reedy. "There are several factors," he said - "the type of wood, say, and this one has a lot of inside carving. See here?"

He pointed to the back of a shoulder. "That's bark. It'll come out in the sanding. But you have to go inside and around; it's not just a simple figure. If it were just one kid, it would cost a lot less. It's the detail that takes the time. It's what differentiates this kind of piece from the usual chain saw carvers."

Reedy said he also takes into account the amount of sunlight the finished piece will receive. "This one will get a lot of sun -- the sun here is incredible -- so we'll stain it. Polyurethane or varnish would just peel right off."

He said if the sculpture were in shade it would last indefinitely if polyurethane were reapplied every six or seven years. But the sunlight in Dr. Feinstein's yard dictates that it must be given a coat of stain every year or two, he said.

Reedy and Kim have worked together for the last two years. Reedy said Kim's studio, which also was in Scituate, burned down about a year ago.

"He's done quite a lot," Reedy said.

Kim said he has 30 years of carving experience, but that this was his first work in Providence.

"And most are not done on trees that still have their roots in the ground," Reedy chimed in. "He's well known on the West Coast, but around here he doesn't have the reputation. People just don't know about him. He does big tables and altars for Buddhist temples in Korea and Los Angeles."

Kim fetched a color brochure that his family published. His brother and nephew are pictured at work on ornate religious carvings, but what takes the breath away are splendidly ornate temple facades, walls, miniature temples with layers of pagoda roofs and statues of the Buddha.

One Buddha stands 12 feet tall.

"About a year," he replied when asked how long such a piece takes.

The miniature temple? "About five years."

Another car braked to a halt, the eyes of the driver riveted upon the oak stump.